Like many of us, she has great love for Christ, but can't tolerate those who claim to be His followers, yet don't act as He would.

Legendary author Anne Rice has announced that she’s quitting Christianity.

The “Interview with a Vampire” author, who wrote a book about her spirituality titled "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession" in 2008, said Wednesday that she refuses to be “anti-gay,” “anti-feminist," “anti-science” and “anti-Democrat.”

Rice wrote, “For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian ... It's simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

Rice then added another post explaining her decision on Thursday:

“My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me," Rice wrote. "But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been or might become.”

I mean, kudos to her for using "disputatious" in a sentence , but I'm kind of shocked to see someone claim to have faith in Christ but in practically the same breath disavow being a Christian. If she thinks that all Christians are schmucks, that's fine, but a) that's painting with a mighty wide brush, and b) (and correct me if I'm wrong, since I'm not a Christian) being a Christian doesn't mean following Christians. It means following Christ. Did she sleep through church that day?

"I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slowerMakes you talk a little lowerAbout the things you could not show her."

Linnea wrote:I kind of took it to me she doesn't think much of organized religion.

Well, yeah, I got that part. It's one thing to say you don't agree with fundamentalism, or right-wing Christians, or conservative Christians (which seems to be what she was saying), but to disavow Christianity itself seems a little strange. And she made it a completely partisan thing, to boot...as if there wasn't any such thing as a Democratic Christian. If I was a Christian, and either party did something I considered to be un-Christian, I would hope I would switch parties accordingly.

"I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slowerMakes you talk a little lowerAbout the things you could not show her."

Brian wrote:...being a Christian doesn't mean following Christians. It means following Christ. Did she sleep through church that day?

I think she knows exactly what she said..

I believe that she's accurately reflecting the unspoken/spoken mentality that the vast majority of US Christians have -- if you're not IN church with us, and ostensibly agreeing with the opinions that the majority of us hold (including things that are not even remotely addressed in the Bible), then, you're not a "real" Christian.

I have encountered that attitude in the mindset of hundreds of Christians from more than 100 different churches I've had encounters/membership in/dealings with in the last 40 years. I had many many conversations when people would start talking about conservative views, homosexuality, and the other types of things she mentions and more --- And the words these people utter may not be militant, but you can see that their opinion is "thus" -- and once they realise that your opinion isn't the same as theirs, suddenly you're "not the same" -- and in Christianity especially, where every thought and opinion is directly related to "being saved" or "not being saved", there's an instant chasm between believers at that point.

It's one thing when it's a difference between you and your neighbor over the kind of grill to buy.

It's something else entirely when you are willing to be friendly towards a gay person, even though you don't accept their lifestyle, you're capable of looking beyond that...

...and the other Christian in the room is NOT willing to be friendly, and has immediately decided that YOU are going to hell and are a false believer in Christ, all because you're not willing to be as intolerant as they are.

Sometimes they're not outwardly militant about it -- but once they realise you don't 100% share their narrower views and mindset, they're just not anything like warm and friendly and welcoming -- all the while talking about being loving and warm and friendly.

I agree that only a smaller percentage of Christians will be militantly outspoken to a fellow believer.

But my experience is that the attitude Anne Rice is talking about is there, and many times it's just politely unspoken, yet you can see it's results in other more sutble ways.

There are exceptions -- two of my good friends are staunch in their ultra conservative beliefs and yet very friendly with people who are not

But I do feel that from empirical experience, they are very very much the tiny minority, NOT the rule..

Most Christians do make a large mental equality divide in their minds between themselves and ANYONE who doesn't share exactly their views --- because at best, that other person with broader views is deluded and isn't going to be in heaven.....or worse, someone with truly broad views is probably working with Satan...

Brian wrote:...being a Christian doesn't mean following Christians. It means following Christ. Did she sleep through church that day?

I think she knows exactly what she said..

I believe that she's accurately reflecting the unspoken/spoken mentality that the vast majority of US Christians have -- if you're not IN church with us, and ostensibly agreeing with the opinions that the majority of us hold (including things that are not even remotely addressed in the Bible), then, you're not a "real" Christian.

I have encountered that attitude in the mindset of hundreds of Christians from more than 100 different churches I've had encounters/membership in/dealings with in the last 40 years. I had many many conversations when people would start talking about conservative views, homosexuality, and the other types of things she mentions and more --- And the words these people utter may not be militant, but you can see that their opinion is "thus" -- and once they realise that your opinion isn't the same as theirs, suddenly you're "not the same" -- and in Christianity especially, where every thought and opinion is directly related to "being saved" or "not being saved", there's an instant chasm between believers at that point.

It's one thing when it's a difference between you and your neighbor over the kind of grill to buy.

It's something else entirely when you are willing to be friendly towards a gay person, even though you don't accept their lifestyle, you're capable of looking beyond that...

...and the other Christian in the room is NOT willing to be friendly, and has immediately decided that YOU are going to hell and are a false believer in Christ, all because you're not willing to be as intolerant as they are.

Sometimes they're not outwardly militant about it -- but once they realise you don't 100% share their narrower views and mindset, they're just not anything like warm and friendly and welcoming -- all the while talking about being loving and warm and friendly.

I agree that only a smaller percentage of Christians will be militantly outspoken to a fellow believer.

But my experience is that the attitude Anne Rice is talking about is there, and many times it's just politely unspoken, yet you can see it's results in other more sutble ways.

There are exceptions -- two of my good friends are staunch in their ultra conservative beliefs and yet very friendly with people who are not

But I do feel that from empirical experience, they are very very much the tiny minority, NOT the rule..

Most Christians do make a large mental equality divide in their minds between themselves and ANYONE who doesn't share exactly their views --- because at best, that other person with broader views is deluded and isn't going to be in heaven.....or worse, someone with truly broad views is probably working with Satan...

I think there are a couple of issues here.

1) For the sake of argument, let's assume that all Christians you or Anne Rice has met are total assholes. Isn't it possible to be a Christian and not associate yourself with them? Being a Christian means following Christ's example. It doesn't mean hanging out with people who think like what you perceive Christians to think like, necessarily.

2) You're talking about a limited number of Christians who have this ultraconservative view (e.g., about homosexuality). Not only are there entire congregations which embrace more liberal views, but there are entire branches of Christianity which don't tow the conservative line -- particularly in America. I've grown up around Catholics (to take one example) all my life, and the range of beliefs among them is very diverse. (In fact, if you compiled a list of hot button topics, I challenge you to get even 75% agreement among people you polled.) Catholic orthodoxy may preach no sex before marriage, homosexuality is a sin, etc., etc., but how it gets played out among the people is a lot different. Of course, I don't live in the Bible Belt, but that just goes to show that what kind of Christianity you get exposed to varies a lot by region.

I'm not a Christian, but I've known a lot of people in my life who don't give a rat's ass about orthodoxy, but would give you the shirt off of their backs, if you needed it, regardless of where you stood on issues like homosexuality and abortion. They'd certainly feel free to tell you they didn't agree with you, if the subject came up, but they would still treat you with the kindness and respect required of someone who follows Christ.

And as I said, part of the issue I have with Rice's stance is that it seems purely based on politics. I'm not a believer, but if I did believe that my eternal soul was riding on behaving in a certain way, you'd better believe that I would reject a political party which advocated for the opposite path. (That's not to say that I think all Democrats are anti-Christian. But if I believed they promoted anti-Christian views as public policy, why the hell (no pun intended) would I choose politics over my eternal soul? )

"I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slowerMakes you talk a little lowerAbout the things you could not show her."

To follow Christ you need your own convictions and relationship with god than following leaders of any given church. That may be considered following some kind of cult as their leaders believe they are true divine? (more like brainwashing).

Go live in North Korea as their government leader is also their God, saviour and most powerful being in the universe. Hail Kim Jong-il!